Phy-Sci Book Club: Past Books

This is an archive of past books we have read and discussed at the Physical Science (Phy-Sci) Book Club at Cellar Door Bookstore, the independent bookstore of the Canyon Crest neighborhood of Riverside, CA.

We meet on the last Wednesday of each month (or as planned).

Go to the main Phy-Sci page for information about current and future books.

February 22

Lawrence Krauss is a theoretical physicist and self-described "public intellectual" at Arizona State University. His is the chair of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' Board of Sponsors, which oversees the Doomsday Clock.

To the best of my knowledge, The Physics of Star Trek, originally published in 1995 (and in a revised edition in 2007), was the very first "science of ____" book. Incidentally, it was the book that turned me onto both physics and Star Trek: The Next Generation. The book highlights the ways in which the television show's writers put care into crafting stories around seeds of actual science, but also the liberties that they took in the interest of plot and the status of many open questions in physics.

With this book, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Star Trek and the 100th anniversary of Einstein's original paper on general relativity.

Related articles:

TL;DR ("too long; didn't read"): For those with limited time, we still invite you to join our discussion. In a pinch, please focus on: to be determined soon!

25 January 2017

Lisa Randall is a theoretical particle physicist at Harvard. Her contributions to physics include the RS1 model of a warped extra dimension, one of the top cited papers of all time.

In Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs: The Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe, Randall presents the story of how her research found a possible overlap between particle physics and paleontology. In fact, the research in self-interacting dark matter has close ties to UC Riverside!

Related articles:

TL;DR ("too long; didn't read"): For those with limited time, we still invite you to join our discussion. In a pinch, please focus on: Chapter 3 (The Big Questions), Chapter 14 (What Goes Around...), Chatper 18 (Socially Connected Dark Matter), Chapter 21 (Dark Matter and Comet Strikes) and the conclusions.

Join us on Wednesday, January 25 at 6:00pm in Cellar Doors Bookstore to discuss the book. Bring your thoughts, questions, and excitement for science!

About The Moderator

Flip Tanedo is an assistant professor of theoretical physics at the University of California, Riverside. He specializes in the puzzle of dark matter and how it fits into a fundamental theory of particle physics. He fell in love with science after reading The Physics of Star Trek in eighth grade.

About The Cellar Door Bookstore

Cellar Door Bookstore is locally owned bookstore for all ages now open in the Canyon Crest Town Center in Riverside, California. It is conveniently located right across from Jammin' Bread Cafe. You will find storytimes, book clubs, puppet shows, writing groups, many, many authors and a welcoming staff that really knows books. Finally, a place you can share your love of reading with your fellow Riversiders.